The Last Survivor Teacher Resource Package

1 The Last Survivor Teacher Resource Package Prepared by: Susan Starkman, , Synopsis: Country of Origin: United States Release Year: 2010. Directors: Michael Pertnoy and Michael Kleiman Runtime: 56 minutes Themes: Genocide, Activism, Citizenship Though the phrase never again has often been used in relation to the Holocaust, history has proved our failure to prevent genocide from occurring time and time again. The Last Survivor offers portraits of four survivors of different genocides The Holocaust, Rwanda, Darfur and the Congo who have since dedicated their lives to working as activists in the anti-genocide movement. By ensuring that their stories are heard around the world, these four survivors are at the forefront of a movement that seeks to remind the world what happens when inaction prevails. The Last Survivor offers viewers the unique opportunity to learn from the mistakes of our past in order to have a lasting impact on how we act collectively in the face of similar issues today.

2 Inspired by their plea for civic engagement and social activism, we can prevent the phrase never again from becoming just another empty slogan. Curriculum Links The Last Survivor can be used to meet the requirement of the Media Studies component of English, Grades 9-12. It can also be used to meet the requirements of Grade 10 History (CHC2D), Grade 10 Civics (CHV2D), Grade 11 Canadian History and Politics since 1945. (CHH3C), Grade 11 Canadian Politics and Citizenship (CPC3O), Grade 12 Canada: History, Identity and Culture (CHI4U), Grade 12 World History: The West and the World (CHY4U), Grade 12 Adventures in World History (CHM4E) and Grade 12 Canadian and World Politics (CPW4U). Related Websites: The Last Survivor Directors' blog for Huffington Post Ways into the Film: What is Genocide Since The Last Survivor deals with the issue of genocide, teachers should begin their examination of the film by asking students to come up with a definition of genocide.

3 What exactly does the term mean? What constitutes an act of genocide? Genesis of the Term The word genocide was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish, Jewish lawyer who first used the word in 1944 in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation Analysis of Government Proposals for Redress. The term stems from the root words genos (Greek for family, tribe or race) and -cide, Latin for killing. Although Lemkin fled Poland in 1940, many members of his family were killed during the Holocaust. After the war, Lemkin devoted his work to campaigning for international laws defining and forbidding genocide. Although the Allied forces had codified the general principle of crimes against humanity into an enforceable law in order to prosecute Nazi war criminals, this law was limited in scope and applied only to crimes committed during an international conflict. Lemkin's efforts to make genocide a crime were rewarded in 1948 when the UN.

4 Unanimously adopted the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide on December 9, 1948. On January 12, 1951, the Convention entered into force after 20 countries ratified it. The Convention defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group The full text of the convention can be found at Related Questions and Activities 1. Who were the first 20 countries to ratify the Convention? 2. Although the United States signed the Convention in 1949, it did not ratify it until 1988.

5 What were the reasons for not ratifying it for so long? Why did President Reagan agree to ratify it in 1988? 3. When did Canada ratify the treaty? 4. The International Criminal Court was permanently established in 1998 to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Through an international treaty ratified at the time, the definition of crimes against humanity was expanded. What actions constitute crimes against humanity according to this treaty? 5. To date, how many people has the UN convicted for acts of genocide? 6. Do you think that the UN has been effective in preventing and punishing acts of genocide since 1948? Why/why not? Provide evidence to support your position. Ways into the Text: Bystander Apathy All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.. This quote, generally attributed to the 18th Century political philosopher, Edmund Burke, is an effective springboard to a class discussion about social responsibility and the consequences of standing idly by while crimes are being committed.

6 Ask students what they think the quote means and write down their responses. Then ask them how they think that the quote relates to the film. Each of the four survivors profiled in the film speaks not as victim of genocide, but as an activist against it. The prevailing message of the film is that it is not enough for people to be informed about what has occurred or is happening in the world; what is important, is to act on that knowledge in order to create a better future. To that end, students should have some understanding of the concept of bystander apathy, as well as an understanding of why it occurs and how to prevent it. Psychologists first used the term bystander apathy or bystander effect in the early 1960s. The phrase was used to describe what happened in 1964 when 19 year old Kitty Genovese was attacked and killed outside her New York apartment building while dozens of her neighbours who heard her screams failed to come to her aid or call the police even though the attack went on for over half an hour.

7 Since most people believe that a situation must be an emergency before action is taken, the fact that no single person acted to help Kitty Genovese lulled the collective group of neighbours into viewing the situation as a non- emergency that did not require intervention. This is what is known as pluralistic ignorance. By relating the concept of bystander apathy to the students' own experiences, they will be better able to understand it and think about ways to prevent it. The activity listed below is designed to get students thinking about ways that they can take action against bullying. Related Activity Divide the class into 4 groups. Each group should be given one of the following scenarios: 1. Emma creates an I hate Julia blog, asking people to list reasons why they dislike Julia. 2. Daniel is sitting with a group of people at lunch and invites everyone at the table except Stuart to go to a movie with him after school.

8 When Stuart asks if he can join them, Daniel tells him that he doesn't want ugly geeks to ruin their fun. Stuart looks upset and walks away. 3. Cheryl is a new girl at school who has recently moved from the country to the city. On her first day at school, Helen makes loud comments to the other students about Cheryl looking and dressing like a hick . 4. Brian keeps making sexual jokes around Claire. He also makes comments about her appearance around other boys that are sexually harassing. Have each group imagine they are watching these events happening at their own school and get them to brainstorm different ways (both directly and indirectly) that they could intervene to stop the bullying. For example, a direct way to confront the behaviour is to report it to a Teacher or challenge the bully's behaviour on the spot. An indirect way would be to not attend an event that someone has been excluded from.

9 Students should come up with a list of possible interventions and share them with the class. Choose a few to act out and have students watch and then reflect from the perspective of both the bully and the person being bullied about how this action would affect these individuals. Students should also come up with a list of factors that they would influence them in their decision on whether or not to intervene. Characters and Context The Last Survivor interweaves the stories of the survivors of four genocides: The Holocaust, Darfur, Rwanda and the Congo. Rather than dividing the film into four distinct chapters devoted to each character, the directors chose to interweave their stories, thereby highlighting the commonalities that they share specifically as survivors and generally as human beings. For the purposes of classroom study, teachers could divide students into four groups, each one focussing on one of the characters and doing research into the genocide that (s)he survived.

10 Listed below is a brief biography of each of the characters and a list of resources that students can use for their research. Students can share their findings with the rest of the class in a manner of their choosing (power point presentation, handouts, etc). Students should also keep a chart that outlines the experiences of each Survivor (See Appendix A). Include direct quotes from each subject. What are the similarities and differences in their outlooks? What images do the filmmakers use to accompany each story? How do these images impact on the viewer? Hedi Fried HEDI FRIED was born in 1924 in a small Transylvanian town called Sighet. She and her family were sent to Auschwitz in May 1944, where most of her family was killed. After several Work Camps she was liberated in Bergen-Belsen in April of 1945. After the war she was transported through the Swedish Red Cross busses to Sweden where she remained and built a new life for herself.